Despite the atrocious weather conditions there was still a strong showing of red and black hoops assembled on Wimbledon Common for the second race in the Surrey League. Despite the conditions the team were, as usual, in jovial spirits. There was, however, a sense of anticlimax as they approached the start line. It was at this moment that the character of the young Harriers was tested and a few murmurs of “we should just go home” erupted from the group. It was only after Charlie performed his famous line dancing routine that the morale was restored.
The boys had been so focussed and in the zone about the race that they did not realise there was a new start. Upon finding the new start Charlie led the warm up in true military like Herne Hill fashion. James would have been proud.
The squad saw a welcome return by Senar Etem and Michael Prentis after a prolonged injury to bolster the U15 team. The whistle sounded and the race started in typical fashion with athletes from the various clubs jostling for position. The entire race was packed full of incidents. After the ferocious start the race began to take shape with Hercules Wimbledon dominating proceedings in the opening kilometre with a 1-2-3 at the head of the field. As the race headed into the narrow, slippery lanes of Bellbrook forest overtaking became difficult and Liam White of Hercules Wimbledon took advantage to open up a considerable lead at the head of the field.
Conditions on the day were appalling and there were numerous slips and falls within the field, mainly Jamal. The numerous puddles and the copious amounts of mud combined to drain the energy of the athletes and buy the time the race exited the forest the pace was considerably slower. It was at this point that Charlie Luscombe chose to attack. Thanks to a harsh winter training regime he had great strength in his legs. Charlie managed to stay away for roughly a mile before being chased down by the small pack which was being powered on by the Hercules Wimbledon runners. Henry Sutcliffe counter attacked and he broke away like a man possessed.
With the finish in sight things at the front of the race began to really heat up. Several attacks to claim glory were made but none of them were able to stick. The flat run in to the finish provided an excellent opportunity for sprint finishes. The athletes, cheered on by the huge crowd, found a reserve of energy and they made a bid for the line. The finish was close and resulted in a 1-2-3 to Hercules Wimbledon in the U17 race. The excitement of the finish was too much for some people!
Charlie was pleased with his 6th place finish in 14:55 as was Henry who showed a great example of mental and physical toughness to overtake 4 of his rivals in the closing 400m to finish in 9th in 15:56. A few minutes later and the first of the U15 boys battled it out. Dan Wilmott finished 4th in the U15 race in 16:20, 12th overall, while Zack Weller-Davies, who had had a tremendous race, managed to finish high up the standings in 13th as 5th U15 in 16:21.
In his first race back from a long time away from the sport Senar Etem finished in 16th place in 16:40 and there were solid performances from Michael Prentice - 19th in 17:32 (9th U15), Lascelles Hussey - 6th U13 in 16:58, Jamal Langley - 20th in 17:59 (10th U15) and Michael Brown - 10th U13 in 18:00.
On another note Zack managed to close the gap on Henry in the prestigious ‘muddy legs’ competition after an impressive performance. Zack’s tactic of rolling around in the mud clearly paid off and pundits are already describing this boy as a future world champion. Henry claims he could have won it had he not gleefully run through so many puddles which, as a result, washed away the majority of the mud he had worked so hard to get onto his legs!
Charlie Luscombe and Henry Sutcliffe
